When Top Gear drove the Peugeot 208 T16

Seb Loeb's 875bhp was fastest at Goodwood this weekend. Here's what happened when our man got a drive

The result was as expected; the margin of victory, unprecedented. The little Pug was so fast that Red Bull's helicopter couldn't keep up. Loeb didn't break the Pikes Peak record, he unequivocally obliterated it, turning in a time of 8:13.878, which equated to an average 90.53mph on the 12.42-mile, 156-turn, 4,720-foot ascent to the clouds. He shaved ninety-two seconds off Rhys Millen's record. A whole 16 per cent faster. It sent the motoring world into a bit of a frenzy.

"The media coverage that we got at Pikes Peak was bigger than our win at Le Mans in 2009," Bruno admits with a smile. "With such a car, such a race and such a driver, we discovered many were interested in Pikes Peak - even people who knew nothing about motorsport." The whole project had a tiny budget, costing less than a gentleman racer's rally programme, but the return on investment was huge. Job done.